By: Chris Whitaker
Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini
Random House Audio
ISBN: 9780593798874
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Publication Date: 06/25/2024
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
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From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes an epic novel about a man fixated on finding a missing woman―and the FBI agent on his tail, who might be even more obsessed than he is.
"A huge achievement." ―Alex Michaelides
"Amazing. Haunting. Unforgettable." ―Patricia Cornwall
1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.
A soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.
My Review
Top Books of 2024!
From the New York Times, bestselling author Chris Whitaker of We Begin at the End comes a hauntingly beautiful, captivating literary suspense mystery, coming-of-age crime thriller, serial killer whodunit, and emotional character study blended with the power of art, storytelling, and a heart-rending love story spanning decades.
This EPIC masterful saga, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, explores the traumas and abuse of the past and how they affect and change the trajectory of lives forever, good and bad, for a lifetime.
A story of an innocent thirteen-year-old pirate and a beekeeper that will save his life. They cross paths with a serial killer that will change their lives forever.
About...
It is 1975 in Monta Clare, Missouri. We meet two best friends and classmates, Patch Macauley (miner), a one-eyed teen (who considers himself a pirate), and his best friend, Saint Brown, an orphan (beemaker), who lives with her grandmother.
They both have plans and dreams, and they want to escape their current lives. However, some local girls mysteriously disappear from the town.
When a predator assaults Misty Meyer in the woods, the only daughter of a wealthy family, Patch turns into an unlikely hero and saves her; however, he is kidnapped instead. Was he the first boy kidnapped with the girls?
Saint is devastated and vows to find Patch. There is a monster. A predator. A serial killer on the loose.
Patch finds himself in the darkness in a cellar, where a mysterious girl, Grace, visits him (heard, not seen). There are also other girls in the cellar. Grace, however, paints vivid pictures of places and literary stories and whispers to Patch. He has no idea where he is. Is she real, or is he imagining her?
He eventually escapes; however, he is haunted by this girl, Grace, and spends his entire life searching for her. Saint and Patch reunite, but they are both irrevocably changed.
Saint's life is also affected by the tragedy, and she is now in law enforcement with the FBI vowing to help Patch and find the killer. Her life is complex and complicated with her relationship with Jimmy, who is obsessive, jealous, and abusive.
The suspects are a doctor and a photographer. What is the motive, and why can't anyone find the killer, Grace, plus the others? Some think Patch dreamed of this girl. Is she real.?
Patch is obsessed with finding these missing girls and Grace and the horrors he had conjured, turning to rob banks to give the money to organizations to fund the search for the missing girls and children to help families from state to state, and prison. He lost so much.
He ultimately turns to painting to express his fears and trauma through art and to capture what he remembers. He became successful, and his work is in top galleries. Other complications in his life and people add to the intrigue.
However, Patch and Saint will never forget one another.
My thoughts...
ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is spellbinding!
Chilling, tender, brutal, and exquisite, it has emotional depth and evocative prose full of heart, humor, and soul. Many dark characters and monsters hide behind a facade with secrets that will destroy families and lives. This coming-of-age story portrays the innocence and guilt of children forced to make difficult adult decisions and grow up before their time. From boy to man, girl to woman, they had lost more than they could ever count. Can they move on?
Atmospheric and claustrophobic, the author brilliantly captures the small rural town setting and its characters from the first page to the last and never lets go with his stunning lyrical prose, which is elegant, haunting, and memorable.
ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is much more than a thriller. If you love literary suspense as much as I do, you will devour Whitaker's latest. Patch and Saint are such powerful, compelling characters, as is the supporting cast. Gut-wrenching, it is a story of loss, trauma, loyalty, love, and hope.
"...You were my connection to something real, something pure and real. I could be someone different. That's the thing about the dark. You could look at me and not see the things I'd seen. I could teach you everything I learned from books, everything I saw when we traveled. I could lead you where I needed you to go to make right what I could not."
INTERVIEW: If you have not read the insightful and inspiring interview by Publisher's Weekly with the author, I highly recommend it. Whitaker has survived his share of trials, abuse, and tragedy and fell into darkness with drugs and alcohol; however, through his tragedies, he became a survivor and a successful writer to express his feelings, much like Patch with his art. I also love Whitaker's background working around books, his literary passion, the library, and his inspiration, Author John Hart (from attorney to author). I also like how he writes his books set in the US.
I am going back to read Whitaker's previous books, which I missed. He has been added to my favorite author list. I highly recommend ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK.
Recs...
For fans of the author and John Hart's (fav author) The Last Child and Dennis Lehane's Mystic River as well as authors Cormac McCarthy, William Falkner, Pat Conroy, Michael Robotham, David Baldacci, David Joy, Robert Dugoni, and Ron Rash.
Thank you...
Thanks to Crown Publishing for the honor of reading an early review copy via NetGalley. I also pre-ordered the audiobook, which is narrated by my favorite, Edoardo Ballerini.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 25, 2024
My Rating: 5 Stars ++
Top Books of 2024
Praise
“With deeply affecting characters and ambition to spare, Whitaker has conjured a dazzling epic that defies easy categorization. It’s astonishing.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Melds tense suspense with a powerful exploration of devotion, obsession, and love.”
—People (Best New Books)
“This book hits like a sledgehammer. Equal parts harrowing and triumphant, Chris Whitaker's novel is a haunting story of America, alternating between its twin strands of violence and love. An absolutely must-read novel.”
—Gillian Flynn
“Chris Whitaker kept me frantically turning the pages and somehow made me cry at the end. . . . Brava!”
—Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Engrossing, heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure—I’ve never read anything quite like it. This book will stay with you for a very long time.”
—Lucy Foley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment
“Chris Whitaker’s latest novel is a book to lose yourself in. . . . [T]his sprawling crime novel transcends its genre to become something epic in scope, haunting, and ultimately deeply moving.”
―Alex Michaelides, bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Fury
“All the Colors of the Dark is mesmerizing and intoxicating. Chris Whitaker is a poet who will leave you in breathless awe and suspense. Amazing. Haunting. Unforgettable.”
—Patricia Cornwell
“I’m bereft at having finished this epic story of love and loss. Profoundly emotional and powerful, I savored every beautifully written word. I can’t recommend this highly enough.”
―B.A. Paris, New York Times bestselling author of The Therapist and Behind Closed Doors
“Taut, beguiling, and suspenseful, All the Colors of the Dark reveals the depth of a town’s loss when a young boy goes missing under dubious circumstances.”
—Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest
“Frightening yet beautiful and redemptive, All the Colors of the Dark deftly explores friendship, bravery, and the long trail dark acts leave behind.”
—Tracy Sierra, author of Nightwatching
“All the Colors of the Dark is epic in every sense of the word: time, scope, skill, and love. It’s a crime novel with a huge beating heart and some of the best characters I’ve ever passed my time with.”
—Abigail Dean, author of Girl A
“All the Colors of the Dark is a stunning book. Ambitious, epic in scale yet strangely intimate . . . Simply incredible.”
—M.W. Craven, author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Botanist
“A masterclass in storytelling.”
—Mari Hannah, author of the Ryan and O’Neil thrillers and the Stone and Oliver series
“Vast, yearning, and luminous.”
—Vaseem Khan, bestselling author of the Malabar House series
“Stunning, simply stunning. I cannot remember the last time a book sucked me in and didn't let me out of its clutches like this did. Truly exceptional.”
—John Marrs, author of the bestselling What Lies Between Us and When You Disappeared
“An absolutely astonishing achievement. It could actually be the best book that I’ve ever read. And I’ve read fucking LOADS. A stunning, bewitching, beautiful novel.”
—Adam Simcox, author of The Generation Killer
About the Author
© David Calvert
Chris Whitaker lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and three young children. When not writing he works part-time at a local library, where he gets to surround himself with books. WEBSITE
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